Convertible cap for attachment-plugs.



H. HUBBELL.

CONVERTIBLE CAP FOR ATTACHMENT PLUGS. APPLICATION ElLED 020.11. lim.

Patented Aug. 13, m8.

amwm

INVENTOR 1 I ATTORNEY .HARVEY HUBBELL, OF BBIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

CONVERTIBLE CAP ATTACHMENT-PLUGS.

Specification orletters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

Application filed DecemBer 1'7, 1917. Serial No. 207,419.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY HUBBELL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, county ofFair-field, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement inConvertible Caps for Attachment-Plugs,

of which the following is a specification.

ill)

This invention has for its object to provide-a cap for attachment plugs(and receptacles as well) which shall be so constructed that one or bothof. the contact blades may be readily removed and shifted from oneposition to another, so as to adapt the cap or use in connection withattachment plugs having, alined blade receiving slots, or polarizin ladereceiving slots, and where both of t e contact blades are made shiftablethe cap is adapted for use in connection with.attachment plugs havingeither alined, or polarizing, or parallel blade receiving slots, the capbeing readily convertible from one tyge of'cap to another.

ith these and other ,objects in view, I.

have devised the novel attachment plugcap which I will now. ,describe,the operative 7 parts consistin of six members only, two

of which'are upli'cates, and all of which are simple and inexpensive toproduce.

v In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification,

Fi re 1 is a plan view of my novel converti 1e plug cap,

Fig. 2 a slde elevation thereof,

Fig. 3 a section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows,

Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are perspective views, showmg the several membersdisassembled,

Fig. 9 is a section of the blade carrying block on the line 9'-9 inFig.7, looking in the direction of .the arrows,

Fig. 10 an inverted plan view of the blade carrying block,

F1 11, 12 and 13 side elevations of my novef convertible'plug capshowinrespectivel the.contact blades in the a ined,.the para lel and thepolarizing positions, and Fig; 14 is a plan view o a blade carryingblock which provides for two chan es only,

. that is from the 'alined'to the polarizing arran ement of one blade orvice versa.

2% denotes the blade carrying block, 21 the covering block, both of ichare made of insulating material, 22 the shiftable contact blades and 23and 24 the shell members which are provided with inter-engaging rolledthreads.

The blade carrying block is a moderately thick disk of insulatingmaterial which in the preferred form is provided with two diametricallyplaced combination or T-slots 26, contiguous to each T-slot withrecesses 27 and 28,.and in its edge with recesses 25.

The contact blades are detachable from the block and are provided withsuitable heads 29, each carrying a binding screw 30, and with retaininglugs 31 adapted to engege: recesses 27 or 28 m the blade carrying 00 Thecovering block, made of insulating material, is provided with a centralhole 32 through which the electrical conductors, not

shown, pass, and with a recess 33-.

Shell member 23 is shaped to correspond with and inclose the coveringblock, and shell member 24 is shaped to correspond with and inclose theblade carrying block and is furthermore provided with lugs 34, which areadapted to be received in recesses 25 in the edge of the blade carryingblock.

Each shell member is provided with a screw thread adapted to engage theother.

In assembling, the contact blades are passed through the T-slots and thelugs 31 on the heads thereof are placed in en agement either withrecesses 27 or 28, as Wlll be more fully explained. The blade carryingblock, with the contact blades in place, 1s

then seated'in shell member 24 as clearly I gagement cause the coveringblock to bear upon the heads of the contact blades and back up saidblades so that they will not yield when pushed through the slots ofanattachment plug and into. engagement with the plug contacts, notshown, and the engagement of the lugs on shell member 24: with therecesses in the edge of the blade carrying block, prevent any movementof said block, relatively to the shell members.

The heads of the combination or T-slots are toward each other.- Forconvenience in description, I will refer to the head portions of theT-slots as the transverse arms of said slots, and the portions of saidslots ,atri ht angles to the transverse portions, as

the iametrical arms of said slots. In the alined arrangement of thecontact blades, said blades lie inthe diametrical portions of theT-slots and the lugs 31 on the heads of the blades are in engagementwith recesses-27 in the blade carrying block. In the parallelarrangement of the contact blades, the blades lie in the transverse armsof the T-slot and the lugs 31 are in engagement with recesses 28 in theblade carrying block. This engagement of the lugs on the heads of thecontact blades with the recesses in the blade carrying blbck acts tohold the contact blades securely in place, renders any twisting of theblades practically impossible and insures correct alinement of theblades at all times. In the polarizing arrangement of the contactblades, one blade lies in the diametrical portion of the correspondingT-slot with its lug 31 in engagement with a recess 27 in the bladecarrying block and the other contact blade lies in the transverseportion of the corresponding T-slot with its lug 31 in a recess 28 inthe blade carrying block. In assembling, it i just as easy to set thecontact blades for one type of cap as for another. To convert the capfrom one type to another, the shell members are separated, the coveringblock removed and one or both of the contact blades are removed, given aquarter turn, as may be required, to produce the required type of cap,and inserted in the T-slot again. Detachment of the electricalconductors from the binding screws is wholly unnecessary, and to changefrom one type of capto another when the cap is in use, requires lesstime than it takes to describe the operation. Supposing the contactblades are in the alined position, to change to the parallel position,both blades would be removed from the diametrical arms of the T-slotsand inserted in the transverse arms. To change from parallel to alined,the contact blades would be removed from .the transverse arms of theT-slots and inserted in the diametrical arms. To change from either thealined or the parallel arrange ment, to the polarizing arrangement, onecontact blade only has to be changed. If in the alined position, itwould be changed to the transverse position, and vice versa.

:sitThe form 'illustrated in Fig. 14 difiers on1yinthat the parallelarrangement of masses the contact blades is not provided for. Onecombination or T-slot is provided as before and in lieu of the otherT-slot, I provide a diametrically placed I-sl'ot 35, which will receivea contact blade in the alined position only, and in connection with thisslot I provide a lug receiving recess 27, lug receiving recess 28 of theother form being dispensed with. In fact so far as this form of theinvention is concerned, the alined blade need not be removable at all,but may be permanently secured in place, the object of the inventionbeing attained by making the other blade shiftable from the alined tothe polarizing-position, or vice versa.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a convertible cap forattachment plugs, the combination of an insulating block having slotswith diametrical and transverse arms and recesses contiguous thereto,and shiftable contact blades each ada ted to engage either arm of aT-slot an having a lug adapted to engage one of the recesses when seatedin either arm of a slot.

2. A convertible cap for attachment plugs comprising a blade carryingblock having T-slots, recesses contiguous to the T-slots and recesses inits edge, shiftable contact blades each adapted to engage either arm ofa T-slot and provided with a head having a lug adapted to engage one ofthe contiguous recesses, a covermg block en aging the head of thecontact blades a she member adapted to inclose the blade carrying blockand having lugs engaging the edge recesses, and another shell memberinclosing the covering block and'having threaded en gagement with thefirst mentioned shell member.

3. In a convertible ca for attachment plugs, the combination 0 shiftablecontact blades having heads provided with retaining lugs, a bladecarrying block having T-slots placed diametrically with the transversearms of said slots toward each other, said blade carrying block havingcontiguous to each T-slot a recess adapted to receive the retaining lugwhen a contact blade is in the diametrical arm of the T-slot and anotherrecess adapted to receive the retaining lug when the contact blade is inthe transverse arm of the T-slot.

4. In a convertible ca for attachment plugs, the combination 0 a bladecarrying block having T-slots and recesses contiguous thereto, shiftablecontact blades ada ted to engage either arm of the T-slots and avingheads provided with retaining lugs each ada ted to engage a recess whenthe contact bla e is in either the diametrical or the transverse arm ofthe T-slot, a covering block adapted to engage the heads of thewith eachother.

v 5.. In a convertible cap for nttect logs, the combination of eninsnietin t lock'having an eiined contact blade end e the hlocks enothaving threeflefl engagement slot with diemetricel and transverse 1 mand recesses contiguous thereto, and e shittremeee 8 able contact bladeadapted to engage either arm of said slot and having o. lug aflapted Ito engage one of the recesses when seated 10 in either arm of the slotIn testimony whereof an my signature.

